After thinking about this for a few minutes, I am upset that they made this trade, just because of what Swin and Le'Coe have meant to the team. But, the team is getting older and needs to make some changes. That was very apparent last season. I just hope Brian has something good brewing. I would honestly be more surprised if he keeps the pick. Given his disdain for rookies, I see this trade as a means of getting some younger vets via trade. Of course, it all depends on who's available in the draft.

I agree with the sentiments on how Katie still figures into things. If he's truly going younger, she needs to go. I was going to question keeping Ashley as well, but she did show some signs of decent play when she was filling in for Lauren last year. So who knows.

I would think that KB and Brian are having serious discussions on how to keep the casual fans interested this season when LJ will miss a good chunk of time, there'll be some sort of Olympic break, and now two of the more recognizable faces on the team are gone. I have faith that Brian has a plan, and it's going to work. Let's give it time to pan out.

personally, i applaud brian and karen for making the very tough decision to pull the trigger. we had to do something to get younger. other teams want quality in return. no one was going to trade us a quality player for our bench players. its a business. you've got to put butts in the seats and one and done isn't going to do it; especially in a year when lj is gone for a half season.. the other half of the younger equation is we need to get bigger. we are dwarfed by the likes of minny, who is going to be in the driver's seat for years to come, imo. so if we want to get and stay competitive we need youth and size.

and why are some people throwing out the need to get ann wauters? we don't want to hitch our wagon to foreign players (except for lj, of course). they stay home or also need to train for their national teams. plus, she hasn't played in the w since 09.

personally, i applaud brian and karen for making the very tough decision to pull the trigger. we had to do something to get younger. other teams want quality in return. no one was going to trade us a quality player for our bench players. its a business. you've got to put butts in the seats and one and done isn't going to do it; especially in a year when lj is gone for a half season.. the other half of the younger equation is we need to get bigger. we are drawfed by the likes of minny, who is going to be in the driver's seat for years to come, imo. so if we want to get and stay competitive we need youth and size.

and why are some people throwing out the need to get ann wauters? we don't want to hitch our wagon to foreign players (except for lj, of course). they stay home or also need to train for their national teams. plus, she hasn't played in the w since 09.

I am in total agreement. I would be VERY disappointed if we waisted our cap space or high draft pick for WAUTERS who has a habit of not showing up two out of every three years. On the other hand if we can get a young quality post, we would give her plenty of time to play and gain experience while LJ is out.

Doing nothing was not going to cut it while all the other teams are getting stronger and younger. That was very obvious with our first round exit after going all the way to championship the previous year. Agler HAD to do something, but his hands were tied with our consistent low draft picks and no cap space to go after quality veterans. With this trade, he opened both doors. Let's see how he takes advantage of these before making a judgement.

My first reaction to this was anger. Then the objective side of me kicked in and realized while painful, it was also necessary.

Age, very tight salary cap, no first round draft pick (until this) coupled with historically low first round picks for the last few years...the writing was on the wall that if the Storm expected to do something to offset Lauren's loss most of this season, getting older, and no salary cap to make deals they had to do something major to shake up the status quo.

The bright spot in this is that we only have to face Swin and 'Coe twice a season instead of 4 times.

Now if only LA passes on Nneka and Minny gets rid of some of their good bench players, we could be back in it quickly.

and why are some people throwing out the need to get ann wauters? we don't want to hitch our wagon to foreign players (except for lj, of course). they stay home or also need to train for their national teams. plus, she hasn't played in the w since 09.

Um have you actually seen Ann Wauters play for Ros Casares this season? She has been playing fantastic even better then she did in the WNBA for SAS. She has been their best player averaging 17,1 pts and 7,9 rebounds and shooting 60% from the field. And competing with Tina Charles for best center in the Euroleague season! She has said in multiple interviews that if she was healthy and good enough she would like to come back to the WNBA.

She is one of the best free agents out there and the best free agent to fill in for LJ when she misses the first part of the season. I am not saying we need to offer her a multi-year deal i say sign her for next season (if she wants to come) so that she can fill in for LJ and when LJ comes back, she can come off the bench as their first option. Then after the season they can sit down with her and decide if they sign her for another year! But for now i am talking about upcoming season only!

And they wont be using that much of their capspace because she will not earn max. So they have plenty of room to sign other free agents!

Holy cow. I go to the movies, and come out to find we've traded Swin and Coco!

I'm truly sorry to see them go, but from the standpoint of the business of basketball, this makes absolute sense to me. And I also like the Sky, so I'm aware that this really fills a gap at the 3 that they've had for years, and gives them a post who wants to post and can take some of the banging off Fowles.

It will be interesting to see where we go with this. I doubt we hold onto the pick, but you never know. Not until free agent signing opens, anyway.

I'm not a fan of picking up Wauters, but I'll leave that to Brian. I'd prefer a player who will stick around and grow the team, versus a shaky playing prospect (I'm not talking about talent). It might be a reasonable stop gap move, though, if she was willing, I guess.

If you are flaming the front office, I'd apologize to them sooner rather than later. This is the sad side of pro sports, but at the end of the day fans are more content with players they like and wins versus players they really like and first round exits.

I am sad to see Swin and Le'coe move on but the necessity of this re-shaping is pretty obvious. It'll be really interesting to see what we do from here.

Many people believe there is no senior in this draft after Nneka Ogwumike that is worth selling the farm for (heh-heh). LA would seemingly have to take her even though they already have a glut at PF and need better guards. But maybe you hang on to the second pick on the off chance that either Griner or Elena Delle Donne come out early. I trust Agler has a master-plan in mind.

I don't think that trading Swin and Coco means you have to trade all your vets (Sue and LJ aside, obviously). A team of all young-uns would be a mess - some vet leadership is important. So I don't think Brian would be a hypocrite if he keeps Katie around - but I hope the price is right.

I trust in Brian 100% As much as I love Swin, I think this was a good move for the long-term success of the franchise. We were getting *old* fast - time for an infusion of youth. And Swin and 'Co's value wasn't getting any higher. Can't wait to see how the roster spots are filled. But I trust Brian to build another winner.

And calling the front office over this? Seriously? They sell tickets instead of buy them - for a reason! There is time for outrage (like when we thought the Storm were moving to OKL), but this trade ain't that time.

Have not visited in awhile! Btw, Happy New Year. I am pretty shocked by this too. Really liked swim on the storm. She made excellent contributions for the team. Whatever coach is after let's hope it will work out.

I was dissapointed at first with the trade, but having thought about the roster and who we could give up, I think this was the only move. Camille has had breakout seasons last two years, she just needs consistency and she is young. No way you can move Sue or LJ, Can't see much interest for Arob, or T Wright for that matter. Our bench players wouldn't have much currency as they are essentially untried in the league as they don't get many minutes.

Swin struggled big time last year, and even if she regains form, she has had a lot of injuries and she was speaking about retiring in the next couple of years (wants to make the olympics then reassess her future)- then we would lose her for nothing. Le'Coe wasn't the player she was in 2010, and just look at the number of injuries she got in games (albeit minor ones) that forced her to the bench, plus we were undersized when she came in.

I think this was a good move, yes the draft is weak, but if we can get a few unrestricted FA on to the team I think we will all be happy, maybe not this season, but is having a bad year this year with the bumper draft of 2013 so bad?

I wasn't a fan of the Smith trade and I think we paid way way too much for her. If she doesn't play this year I think it will go down as worst trade in history. If she overcomes her ankle injuries maybe she will be better, and can help guide whoever we draft/sign, and then retires before 2013 season.

Now here's hoping Agler can land someone like Wiggins and a decent post player!

Why are you all worrying about Katie. She is not even signed yet and she certainly doesnt get max vet salary!

What does that tell you?

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She isnt a SF let alone a starting SF so i wouldnt worry about Agler starting her or whatever.

But last season she played 20-30 minutes a game flinging long-range shots. We might as well bring back Katie Gerlds.

Are you serious right now or do you not know anything about basketball besides scoring? Katie Gearlds couldnt guard players like Taurasi, McCoughtry even if they would be blindfolded. If you didnt see what else Katie Smith brought when she was on the court then you are not really worth this discussion..

I dont really get why Katie Smith is being brought up. We need 2 new big scorers to fill in for LJ 17-19pts a game and Swin's 13-14 pts a game! A starting smallforward and a starting PF/center. Young vets who bring a fresh spark to this franchise only problem is that good SF's and Centers dont grow on threes.

I would love to see Agler go after Langhorne and Currie but the Mystics will not let them go easily even if they would demand a trade and they will match any offer anyway because they have a lot of capspace!

Wiggins is a UFA that everyone is after only problem is that Minny will probably match every offer anyway and she is a combo guard(would be good as backup to Sue) but we need a starting SF and i dont mean Tamera Young/Kraayeveld material Shameka Christon and Alana Beard are gambles because of their health! Ajavon is an UFA but Mystics will probably match what ever others will offer and she is a chucker(and a SG)! And Nicky Anosike played terrible last season so not really an option either!

Any other free agents or that can put up big numbers and have length other then Ann Wauters??

All this talk by Agler about overseas players makes me think Krivacevic is ready to join the team. Hungary hasn't qualified for the Olympics, and they're not one of the 12 teams in the last qualifying tournament in June.